Now registering for the March, 2015 Beekeeping Class!

Beekeeping Classes with Science-Based Art

Science-Based Art
Instructor: Dawn Cogan 
To register, email Dawn at sciencebasedart@yahoo.com

Cost: $150 per family

Sat. 3/14/15 1-5PM & 3/15/15 2-6PM (4 hrs. each day for a total of 8 hrs.) Monroe Catholic School 
• What is beekeeping? How much honey will I get? How much will this all cost me?
• Equipment necessary to keep bees in Alaska
• Biology and races of honeybees
• Members of the hive and their duties
• Where can I get bee equipment? Should I get new, used or build my own?
• Getting equipment ready for arrival of bees.
• Insulation, feeding bees properly
• What to do when the bees arrive
• Is my queen marked? (queen marking tool)
• Management of honeybee colonies in Alaska, the beekeepers calendar
• Running 2-Queen Hives
• Swarming and how to prevent it
• Honeybee diseases
• Extracting your Alaska honey
• What to do at the end of the season/Wintering Over
• Storing your equipment
• Beeswax candle making

End of the Season Tips

I haven't posted in a while because I've been busy with student teaching, extracting and bottling honey, not to mention going to the market the past few Saturdays. This was really a terrible year overall. It started out great but when the rain stayed most of the summer, on nice days, our bees foraged for miles to find all the pollen and nectar washed away. Next year has got to be better! For  rookie beekeepers, just count it a building year when your bees were bought to build comb for next years bees.

We got about 17 gallons (204 lbs.) of honey from 7 colonies. I was expecting about 70 gallons (870 lbs.)
If you are not wintering over your bees it is time to shop-vac them!

Killing Bees:
What I do, after all the sticky frames that I've extracted are "cleaned up" by my bees, is put water in my shop vac on a cold morning or evening. The cold keeps the bees from flying away from their cluster so it's easier to suck more of them into the vacuum in a shorter amount of time. If it's warm they will be flying all around and you won't get them all. This Sunday is the day I will do this dreadful deed and it puts a depressing spin on my day. For hives that are not close to power I just bring a small generator. After the bees are dead in the shop-vac, I dump them into my compost. If you don't clean them out of the shop vac the first night just cover the end of the vacuum hose with duct tape to ensure none fly back out.

Storing Your Equipment:
I store my equipment outside on top of a queen excluder to keep the mice from getting into my boxes and eating the comb. I also take the inner lid off the hive to keep other insects out of the hive.
Equipment that is stored inside has the potential to get mildew and mold. You can either clean up your hives now or wait until Jan. when its dark and cold and you need an indoor project. That's what we do. We put on some good tunes, drag the hives into the garage and clean everything up with our hive tools. We never use soap or cleaners of any kind. We just scrape off wax where it shouldn't exist.

Do you have questions? Email me any questions at sciencebasedart@yahoo.com

Do you need an extractor brought up from the lower 48's???

Steve & Donna Victors are making a trip down to the states to pick up their new trailer. If anyone needs beekeeping supplies, contact them. https://www.alaskawildflowerhoney.com/

Preparing for next Honeybee Season

Thanks to Ginny Kinney for this link!


http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Building_a_bee_waterer/

Honey Extractor For Rent

I have a much better extractor to rent out this year than last year!
Includes a hot knife, two decapping forks, and strainer.
Cost: $25 per day

You will need to have a food grade bucket to set the strainer on. A gated bucket is actually best and I won't be able to include that this year.

Happy Honey Harvesting!!

Robbing Hives for Honey

Any time now is a great time to rob frames that have both sides "capped" which looks like a thin layer of virgin wax (white) over the top of cells loaded with honey. What I do is check to make sure there is no eggs, larvae, or pupae in the cells and if not then I hold the frame over the open hie and use my bee brush to brush all the bees off of both sides of the frame. I walk about 10 yards away from my hive and place the frame inside a covered Rubbermaid tote. I take every frame that is "capped" and if I extract frames that are uncapped, my honey will crystallize much sooner than usual.

Queen Caging Success!

Yesterday was my queen-caging demonstration and it went very well. With the help of Jill and Carl Addington and Pat and Tom Lyngholm we caged one queen in a top bar hive and five queens in Langstroth hives. One of the Langstroth queens was unmarked because she appeared during a hive check about a month ago in the same hive as the original, marked queen. I separated the two queens with a queen excluder and made sure they each had plenty of space to lay eggs. It worked! Both queens were laying full frames of brood in the same hive separated by a queen excluder. The worker bees were working for both queens. I will wait 21 days until I harvest the last of our honey so that all the bees will have hatched out. This way, I won't have eggs and larva in my honey. If you aren't planning on wintering over your honeybees, I wouldn't wait any longer to cage my queens. The reason we keep them alive is so the workers won't try as hard to make another queen because the pheromones from their queen are still alive and well.

How to Combine Two Beehives

http://smallfarm.about.com/od/beekeeping/a/How-To-Combine-Two-Beehives.htm

				How to Combine Two Beehives In beekeeping it is sometimes necessary to combine hives. Learn when and why to combine colonies or hives, and how to combine beehives in the right way.
				View on smallfarm.about.com

Queen Caging

We plan to cage our queens on 8/10/14 at 3PM. If you want to join us for a live demonstration, please rsvp me at sciencebasedart@yahoo.com
Bring your bee suit and come join the fun! We will meet at 605 Betty Street at 3PM to carpool a few blocks to the river where five of our hives are located.

Rainy Season & Caging Queens

Many people have been reporting very little honeyflow this season. I blame it on relentless rain!! I will do my next hive check this Thursday, July 24th and will post an update on my assessment of where we are at with our season. Many beekeepers are still finding swarm cells in their hives. We must continue to be diligent to remove them.  I will cage queens around the end of the first week in August so if you want to join me and watch before you cage your own queen(s) you are invited.  The date and time will be posted on this blog in about a week.

2014-2015 Science-Based Art Classes

2014-2015 Science-Based Art Classes

Spaces Available for Science-Based Art 2014-1015

Mondays

Primary Science Explorers  10AM-12:00PM  

Soar Through the Solar System 3:30-5:30PM  

Tuesdays

Human Body 3:30- 5:30PM 

Wednesdays

Primary Science Explorers  10AM - 12PM 

Soar Through the Solar System 3:30-5:30PM  

Thursdays

Primary Science 10AM-12PM 

Friday

Illustration and Graphic Design 11AM - 2PM 

To view class syllabus and schedule, click on the buttons above.

Adding Supers, Drowning Ants, and Swarm Report

I'M ADDING MY SUPERS NOW!!
So anytime in the next week would be a great time to add supers. The sooner, probably the better. Some people use a queen excluder on top of the brood boxes (between the brood and super boxes) to keep the queen from laying eggs in the honey supers. This is the second season I won't be using the queen excluder because I believe it really slows the bees down when the honey is "flowing" because they have to struggle to get through the excluder if they enter their hive through the bottom entrance. Besides, if we are caging the queen(s) 21-25 days before harvesting, all the eggs, larva will have become pupa and all the pupa will have "hatched -out." AH - HA!!

ANT PROBLEMS:
If you see ants inside your hive you can get a kiddie swim pool, set bricks or dunnage inside the pool to set your hive up on and fill the pool with water - be sure to have rocks, moss or wood for the bees to land on so they don't drown right along with the honeybees.

SWARM REPORT:
I'm still getting phone calls from folks who have lost colonies to swarming so keep doing hive checks every 10-12 days and don't miss any queen cells!!

WATCH OUT!! AGGRESSIVE BEES & A SWARMING YEAR!!

AGGRESSIVE BEES!!
I have had several calls and emails regarding the aggressiveness of our bees this year. I'm not sure why they are so much more aggressive. Perhaps they did not like the heavy rain we just recently had. What I am doing is smoking my bees several to five min. before I open the hive. Another trick I use is to spray them with sugar water or sprinkle a little powdered sugar on them. These are all good ways to distract them from your presence during hive checks. Wearing a bee suit is mandatory for our family!!

SWARMING YEAR!!
I have also had numerous people call asking for help because their bees swarmed. Dan and I coached Cameron on catching his swarm and he called back to say "It worked" so that's a story that ends well but most swarms are not caught and the colony that is left doesn't usually have enough time to build populations up for a maximum honey harvest.   I am completely out of queens and it will cost a pretty penny to get one this time of year. Probably around $50 because we live in Alaska where the weather is very unpredictable and the shipping is terrible. Continuing regular hive checks every 10 - 12 days and giving the bees plenty of "bee space" is the method we use to prevent swarms.

Swarm Season and Bee Space

Swarm season is upon us and I'm finding several swarm cells in each hive every 10-12 days when I complete my regular hive checks. As long as I'm seeing all four stages of the life cycle I go ahead and scrape off the queen cells. If I find I have a queen missing I will allow a queen cell to hatch out. Regular hive checks are vital to prevent swarming!

If you don't have both brood boxes on your hives, you're behind schedule. Make sure your bees have plenty of space in the way of empty cells for the queen to lay in. If your frames are full of honey, pollen and brood then give them another box to ensure the queens have room for new eggs. 

2014-2015 Science-Based Art Classes

2014-2015 Science-Based Art Classes

Mondays
Primary Science Explorers  10AM-12:00PM
Soar Through the Solar System 3:30-5:30PM

Tuesdays
Human Body 3:30- 5:30PM

Wednesdays
Primary Science Explorers  10AM - 12PM
Soar Through the Solar System 3:30-5:30PM

Thursdays
Human Body 3-5PM

Friday
Illustration and Graphic Design 11AM - 2PM

To view class syllabus and schedule, click on the buttons above.

Honeybee Update!

My husband, Dan, and I made our final beehive move at midnight last night. We moved one Carniolan colony in a Langstroth hive to another location in downtown Fairbanks and another Carniolan colony out to our homestead. I know the bees will be happy to have less winds and a little warmer weather to forage in. Since the weather forecast is for unseasonably cool weather, I will put a small square of pollen patty on top of the frames of each colony to ensure brood is able to continue to be laid and fed. This will allow population building to continue right up until the honey flow. Note that the greater the population of honeybees during the honeyflow (sometime between the end of June to the middle of August), the more jars of honey we will store on our shelves for winter! All of our hives have two brood boxes at this time and I will watch closely for queen cells, removing them if queen evidence is strong. I do still have two back-up Carniolan queens if anyone needs a new queen. I will probably swap locations of my brood boxes again (bottom on top & top on bottom) after this cold snap. Reducing entrances can continue to be helpful for cold nights. Everyone I talk to says this has been their best start to the beekeeping season and I concur!! Beekeeping Blessings!!

Great Start for Honeybees!

This season has been either the best or next best season I've seen for honeybees in the past 11 years! I am performing complete hive checks now every 10-11 days. All six of my colonies are doing fantastic. Don't forget, June is the "swarming month" so keep getting rid of any queen cells. If you think you are missing your queen, one of my students ordered an extra so please let us know asap if you are interested in requeening.
I hope you are all enjoying working with and watching your honeybees. Just keep them out of your bonnett!

Insulation

So I've removed exterior hive insulation twice and replaced it twice since we've had some cold evenings of late. I decided to wait until June 1st to pull the insulation for the rest of the season. I've also been changing my entrance reducers morning and night. At night I change the entrance to the half-inch notch and in the morning (after it gets about 40* or warmer) I pull the entrance reducers all the way out. Congratulations to Sterling Muth who successfully re-queened his hive!

2014-2015 Science-Based Art Classes

Mondays
Primary Science Explorers 10AM-12PM

Tuesdays
Read, Write, Publish 12:30-2:30PM

Wednesdays
Primary Science Explorers  10AM - 12PM
Soar Through the Solar System 3:30-5:30PM

Thursdays
Creative Essay Writing 10AM-12PM
Human Body 3-5PM

Friday
Illustration and Graphic Design 11AM - 2PM

DANDELIONS!!!

Today I saw dandelions at UAF!!! So I fed my bees for the last time today since I have drawn-out comb. Beekeepers who have mostly bare foundation should keep feeding sugar water to get their frames drawn-out with comb.  

Jack Frost is Back!

Since Jack Frost is back lurking around the Interior of Alaska, we need to be cautious to keep our honeybees warm. I re-insulated all my hives again and suggest you do the same. Also, when ever temperatures get to 50*, top off your sugar water.

Changing Spring Entrance Reducers, Adding Bee Space & Hive Checks

Entrance Changes:
When the weather dropped off tonight, I put entrance reducers back into the hives and set them to the smallest entrance. When it warms up again, depending on the temperatures, I'll set them to the medium-sized entrance or perhaps even remove them completely again.

Adding Bee Space: Beekeepers who have mostly drawn-out frames could add another brood box now since we are having an amazingly fast pollen build-up year. This would give the bees more space for brood and pollen stores. If the weather keeps going like it has been, we may have an early honeyflow which would change the beekeeping schedule a bit. If that's the case, I will be updating the calendar here on this blog.

Regular Hive Checks:  From here on out, after confirming you have a strong queen in each hive, complete hive checks should be done every 10-12 days.

Do You Need More Beekeeping Equipment?
If anyone is in need of beekeeping equipment, one of our beekeeping kind is headed down to Big Lake. Fred Tuttle: grizzlydog@alaska.net  347-0651

Spring Heat Wave- REMOVE INSULATION!!

Hi Folks, What a GREAT start to our season!! I removed all my inner and outer insulation last evening and today am removing my entrance reducers. If the weather drops off cold again (below 40*) at night, I will put entrance reducers and out insulation back on the hives. No need to offer pollen patties at this time so freeze any extra pollen patties you might still have laying around to use when we get a rainy week later in the season. I have been removing a few queen cells so as long as your queen(s) is/are laying well with full patterns of brood (you should have several or more frames (both sides) with eggs, larva and pupa in each hive), you are in business for a promising honey season!! If you think you don't see any queen evidence, it's time to have someone help you determine if you need a new queen. I have a few extra queens. They are $25 each. Stay tuned for a few pictures with explanations!

Spring Bees and Miracles. . .

Steve and Donna Victors delivered yet another beautiful shipment of honeybees to the Interior yesterday afternoon. I'm so impressed with the brand new packages, very few dead bees in the bottom of the boxes and it's been over two weeks since the first shipment arrived and I haven't gotten any calls for replacement queens. In my opinion, we have the best supplier in the state of Alaska!! People who got their bees on April 12th should be seeing all four stages of the metamorphosis of our honeybees now. The pupal stage should present itself in a full oval pattern without empty or "spotty" cells. If you are seeing a lot of drones (several hundred or thousand) there's something wrong. For people who hived their colonies onto bare foundation, keep feeding sugar water and don't let it run out as this is mandatory for comb build-up. The bees are bringing in plenty of pollen so no need for pollen patties until we have cold or rainy weather in the forecast for more than a day or two. Make sure you have a water source near by! People with drawn-out comb can add a second box anytime now (underneath the first box). Entrances can be increased during the day and reduced before it gets below 40* at night. I did a hive check at the Ekblad home last weekend and their new hives look so nice out in their back yard. We found lots of queen evidence in both hives, watched the bees bringing in lots of willow pollen and heard their peaceful hum. All the while, we were discussing how great a Creator we have to be able to participate in such miracles!

An Excellent Explanation Regarding Collony Collapse

http://www.ted.com/talks/marla_spivak_why_bees_are_disappearing/transcript
Thank You to Taryn Luskleet for sharing this link!

Finding Eggs and Larva!

So how do I get all the bees off the frame so I can see into the back of the cells to hopefully find eggs and larva? The most gentle way is to blow air from your mouth onto the bees and its like magic! They will willingly scurry away from the cells you are trying to see inside of. By now, everyone should have at least one frame with a healthy brood pattern. If the brood is spotty then you may have a queen problem. If you can't find any queen evidence then you may need to try using a magnifying device. If you still think you have queen trouble after checking again, don't hesitate to call me and I will do a hive check alongside you. If you have a queenless hive the bees will attempt to make other queens but this process is impossible without an existing egg laid by the original queen. Catching queenless colonies early is the key to success because if not re-queened within a couple weeks, the colony population drops to dangerous levels. Remember, the bees only live for up to 45 days and it takes 21 days for each new generation to be born. Also, remember not to leave any extra space between your frames (1/4 inch is the perfect amount). Frames should be snug up against each other with any extra space left to one side or the other of the brood box. Keep feeding sugar water as this is the only source of nourishment and comb building resources the bees have at this time.

2014 Beekeeper's Calendar

2014 Beekeeper’s Calendar

For Alaska’s Interior

By Dawn Cogan of Science-Based Art of Alaska, LLC

Below is a tentative schedule for beekeeping in Interior Alaska for 2013.  These dates and activities are subject to change depending on the weather and unforeseen circumstances.  Regardless, I will be posting weekly updates on my blog: http://sciencebasedart.blogspot.com/ 

DO NOT USE QUEEN EXCLUDERS WITH SUPERS THAT HAVE BARE FOUNDATION!  The bees will treat the excluder as a “ceiling” and will rarely if ever draw-out the honeycomb. 

Add queen excluder(s) three weeks prior to extraction so all the brood will hatch out before harvesting and extracting.

April 12^th: Honeybees arrive in Monroe Catholic School parking lot on the gym side of the school.

April 18^th - 20^th: 1^st Queen check (50* or warmer) Looking for eggs & larva (Do not look for queen because it is probably too cold) If you find no eggs, check again in three days.

May 4^th : You should see brood in all stages (eggs, larva, and pupa) If you still do not find eggs, either call an experienced beekeeper or if you are absolutely positive there are no eggs or larva present, purchase a new queen and slowly release her (using a marshmallow like the original hiving).  If you find cells with several eggs on the cell wall – dump your colony & kill your bees.  If you find several eggs at the bottom of cells, it is o.k.

May 15 -16^th: You should have several frames of brood (eggs, larva & pupa) and few cells should be empty.  If the brood pattern is “spotty”, or you find many empty cells, something is wrong!  You should either re-queen or unite your colony with another colony - (After killing the “spotty” queen).  Your bees are not getting enough food if they have no stored sugar water or no pollen in cells.  One good indication of this is if your bees are running over the frames, “shaking.”  If this is the case, feed them sugar water as well as frames with stored honey.  If you find eggs and emerging adult bees (being born) but no larva, then your hive is suffering from a lack of pollen stores.  In this case, give your bees a pollen patty (room temperature).  We may need to remove sugar feeders.  Make sure to keep any grasses, etc. cut short in front of hive entrance.

May 26^th - 28^th: Regular hive check – Look for sugar water and pollen stores.  Look for all stages of brood.  Remove sugar water feeders as long as local plants are blooming and sugar stores are well-stored! Swarm prevention time!! – If you know your queen is healthy & laying from the evidence of eggs, larva and pupa, kill any “swarm cells/queen cells.”  If your queen is “honeybound” (has very little empty cells to lay in) then you need to reverse your hive bodies and add a super.  Depending on the weather, you may need to turn or take your entrance reducer out completely by now.  Make sure to keep any grasses, etc. cut short in front of hive entrance.

*Remember: Queen cells are usually on the sides and bottom of frames – take your time, move slowly as you check for queen cells.  Sometimes it’s easy to miss them!  If you miss one, your hive is in danger of swarming!! Keep removing queen cells every 10-12 days.  Demaree handout is a good tool at this time. 

June 6^th – 8^th: Perform a regular hive check.  Make sure to keep any grasses, etc. cut short in front of hive entrance.

June 16^th – 18^th: Perform a regular hive check.   Keep entrance free of weeds and grass!

June 28^th – 30^th: Perform a regular hive check.  Add supers Keep entrance free of weeds and grass!

July 10^th – 12^th: Perform a regular hive check.   Keep entrance free of weeds and grass!

July 22^nd- 24^th: Perform a regular hive check.   Keep entrance free of weeds and grass!

August 3^rd-5^th: Perform a regular hive check.   You could add your excluder now if you plan on harvesting and extracting honey on or after August 26^th.  Keep entrance free of weeds and grass!

August 11^{th –} 13^th: Cage queens on hive(s) not being wintered-over! Make sure the cork is well secured and hang the queen between two frames.  (Make sure queen can be fed through the screen of the little queen box).

Sept. 3^rd – 6^th: Extract honey and give “sticky” frames back to bees. 

September – To the end: Give bees sugar water so they will draw out any frames with bare foundation.

Sept. 10^th – 12^th:  In early morning or later afternoon (cool temps 35*-40*), Shop-vacuum bees and dump in compost.

Finally- Store your equipment by putting your queen excluder on top of your bottom board to discourage mice from entering and eating any left-over honey, pollen stores, or destroying next season’s wax!!  Cover up any holes in the hive with fine, mesh screen (staple).  Leave your hive outside on foundation bricks or some sort of elevated surface to discourage spring water damage.  Ratchet-strap hive together from top to bottom. 

First Hive Check of the Season

By Friday, 4/18/14 or Sat. 4/19/14, we will perform our first hive checks of the season. (We never open the hive when the outside temperatures are below 50*)

Below is a list of what we are doing/looking for:


Filling up the sugar water (don't let your bees run out of sugar syrup!!)
An empty queen cage (which should be removed from the hive and stored for the fall queen caging event)
Eggs (1/4 the size and about the same shape as a grain of white rice)
Larva (plump worm-like)
Queen (If you do not find your queen but you do have eggs and/or larva, then you more than likely have a queen, BUT. . . if you do not find the queen and there is no "royal evidence" (i.e. eggs/larva) then your hive may be queenless. I do have several back-up queens on hand. They are $25 a piece in the case you need to re-queen.

Stay tuned for updates. Pretty soon the bees will be hauling in willow pollen! Watch for those pussy willows!!

Estimated Arrival of our Bees tonight.

I just spoke with Steve and Donna Victors and we estimate they will arrive about 8PM tonight with our honeybees.

Live Hiving Demonstration 4/12/14

I will be hiving four colonies tomorrow afternoon at 3PM. One colony will be hived into a top bar and the other three will be hived in to Langstroths.
Location 1709 Carr Avenue off Aurora Drive. (East Side) 
For directions, call me on my cell: 460-6050

Live Hiving Demonstration for Science-Based Art Beekeeping Students

Families who attended my beekeeping class in February are invited to a live hiving demonstration either Sat evening or Sunday afternoon when temperatures reach 50* or warmer. Location 1709 Carr Avenue off Aurora Drive. (East Side) Talk with me on Sat. if you have any questions.

Message from Steve and Donna Victors

Bees for Fairbanks will be distributed from the Monroe High School parking lot on the side that borders Betty Street.  We will update the home answering machine from several points along the Parks Highway as we progress northward.  This will allow the beekeepers from Delta Junction to have the time to travel to Fairbanks and arrive close to the same time that we do with the bees.

As of yet we do not have a beekeeper who has let us know that they are willing to carry bees for others from Fairbanks to the Delta area.  When one lets us know, we will send that information out.

Steve and Donna

April 12th Honeybee Shipment

I just spoke with Steve Victors tonight. He is currently in Seattle and heading down to Sacramento, CA tomorrow morning. He will assist in getting our honeybees packaged and delivered to the airport there around 3PM on Friday 4/11/14. Our bees will arrive in Anchorage on Sat. morning. Steve and Donna estimate their arrival at Monroe Catholic School (Gym Parking Lot) will be 6PM . Stay tuned for updates. . .

Science-Based Art Classes for Fall 2014 Are Posted!!

Science-Based Art of Alaska, LLC will be offering more classes in the Fall, 2014!
To see syllabus information, just click on the links above.
Dates and times will be posted very soon!

Honeybees Arrive this Saturday!

This coming Saturday, April 12th is the expected arrival of Steve Victors first delivery of honeybees.
Pollen patties will be available for sale on Sat. for $5.00 each.

Honeybees in Two Weeks!

Steve Victors first shipment of honeybees to the Interior of Alaska is April 12th depending on a successful trip from Sacramento, California. Beekeepers should have hives built, clean and painted before the bees arrive. I will mix up my 1:1 sugar water on Wed. or Thursday 4/9/14 or 4/10/14. All my equipment will be brought into the house on Thursday and not set outside until after the bees arrive so they are hived in a warm home. From here on out, I'll be posting updates.

Order Your Equipment and Honeybees Now!

To order equipment and/or honeybees I recommend first checking with Steve Victors in Big Lake, Alaska as you can save a considerable amount of money on shipping.
To order, go to:


Steve and Donna Victors:
www.stevesbees.com
907-892-6175








This year we have a beekeeping student who has offered to pick up the equipment and transport it to Fairbanks for a nominal gas fee. Our beekeeping club has done this in the past and we've saved hundreds of dollars doing so. Sierra Runnels 907-978-9752   runnels@gci.net

Beekeeping Classes with Science-Based Art

Science-Based Art
Instructor: Dawn Cogan
Cost: $150 per family

Sat. 2/15/14 & 2/22/14 (4 hrs. each Sat. for a total of 8 hrs.) Monroe Catholic School 1-5PM


• What is beekeeping? How much honey will I get? How much will this all cost me?
• Equipment necessary to keep bees in Alaska
• Biology and races of honeybees
• Members of the hive and their duties
• Where can I get bee equipment? Should I get new, used or build my own?
• Getting equipment ready for arrival of bees.
• Insulation, feeding bees properly
• What to do when the bees arrive
• Is my queen marked? (queen marking tool)
• Management of honeybee colonies in Alaska, the beekeepers calendar
• Running 2-Queen Hives
• Swarming and how to prevent it
• Honeybee diseases
• Extracting your Alaska honey
• What to do at the end of the season/Wintering Over
• Storing your equipment
• Beeswax candle making

Order Your Honeybees Early!!

 

Good evening Beekeepers,

Does this rain indicate that spring is on its way?  I hope that your winter has gone well so far.  Days are slowly getting longer.  Normally by this time of year I have sent out notices that it is time to start thinking about ordering bees for the spring.  I have been doing the background work to get our supply reserved and our dates set for this year.  We have also made some significant changes to the website over the past month and it is now up and ready to go.  Putting the final touches on the site and giving it some tests to make sure it all worked delayed us a bit but it is now ready.  Jesse has included a supply order page as well as the bee order page that is able to accept credit card orders.  The option of printing and mailing your bee order is still present for those who wish to do so.  Rather than go through the entire update that is on the site I am providing a link to the front page that will summarize all the details of this year’s order.  Each year we review the process we used in the past and seek to add improvements to it.  This year we added an extra day for those who wish to get their bees as late as possible as well as improving the online ordering process with credit card acceptance and ease of use.

As I normally do, I am providing links to the long range weather predictions for this year from the National Weather Service.

I see that they are predicting a cooler than normal March and then Normal precipitation and temperatures throughout the summer season (April through September)

Temperatures: http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/predictions/multi_season/13_seasonal_outlooks/color/t.gif  

Precipitation: http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/predictions/multi_season/13_seasonal_outlooks/color/p.gif   

Our time frames for delivery are very similar to last year and I have added one extra day for those who will want their bees to arrive late in the month if they wish.  Delivery dates for your area are located on the web page near the bottom.

For those who have bees in my wintering facility I will be doing a colony evaluation near the end of the month so that we can start predicting survival rates.  Not to worry, those who have bees in the barn with me will get ample notice before I release the last of the packages for sale.

Steve

www.stevesbees.com

892-6175

More Colony Collapse Data!!!

Thank you to Ginny Kinney for the following link:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/nature/intraspecies-virus-a-colony-collapse-culprit/

New Evidence for Honeybee Colony Collapse Disease

Thank you to Melissa Shippey for this link!


http://bangordailynews.com/2014/01/22/environment/mutating-plant-virus-linked-to-bee-colony-collapse-disorder/